A particulate form (or powder) of enriched nuclear fuel material is handled in various steps in the production of nuclear fuel pellets that are ultimately enclosed in a cladding for use as fuel rods in nuclear reactors. It is necessary to transport the powder from one location to another in a nuclear fuel fabrication facility, e.g., from inventory to a blending facility for admixing with enriched powder or for admixing with additives, and from the blending facility to the pellet presses.
Accordingly, various containers have been proposed for holding nuclear fuel powders to facilitate such transportation. However, problems have been encountered in unloading powder from such containers due to the inherent characteristic of powders to pack (or bridge) in the container and fail to flow in the absence of some applied force.
It is also necessary to have a container that is critically safe for holding enriched nuclear fuel powders. As used herein, "critically safe" means avoiding any nuclear fission of the nuclear fuel powders held in a container.